For the past 6 years, this forum has conducted a semi-regular awards process to congratulate the members, moderators, and rookies who make this board such an enjoyable experience to frequent. Amongst us, we have new age stat-wizards and old school eyeball-scouts, our ages range from 16-year old sophomores to 65-year old's still going strong, we are Raiders fans, 49ers fans, WORLD CHAMPION San Francisco Giants fans, Oakland A's fans, and even a few protesting, sick-of-BS Sharks fans, our favorite eras span from the blue-collar, underdog '75 NBA Championship squad all the way down to the 2007 We Believe dream run - and everything in between - and while we may hail from a plethora of havens spanning the globe, from Australia to Serbia, New York to the Bay, one thing unites every member of this wonderful message board: we are all fans of a basketball team that makes a strong argument as the most storied franchise in the history of the game.

The Golden State Warriors continually unite us as one; throughout our depressing lows and our seemingly never-enough highs. Through this team, we express hope, wisdom, ecstasy, anguish, and intrigue. And amidst this roller-coaster ride that is our career as Warriors fans - worthy of a loyalist trophy in and of itself - we take this time, around the holiday cheer of December, to celebrate those who help us better enjoy our favorite sports team. The following is a list of award-winners, with runners-up, and total votes (with percentages) to reflect the results of the polls.

Without further ado, I present to you the winners and runners-up for our 11 categories of merit:

Well, guys, I guess the best way I can accept this award is with the undeniable acknowledgement that my posts mean absolutely nothing without my battery mates to feed off and inspire them. The 3 gentlemen who curried votes, as well as Blackfoot, GSW Hoops Fan, PAWNO, JREED, BayAreaHoopz, and all the excellent rookies we've gathered are the true MVP's because without you guys, I don't feel the need to elevate my posts to a level that I feel everyone here deserves. When I post game notes, scouting reports, and everything in between (and, as PAWNO will tell you, I post a LOT), I do so with the very best continuous effort of my ability and I make it a point not to speak confidently about subjects I haven't observed first-hand. As a couple folks have noted in their votes, there was a time where I lost my love for this place. Thankfully, a combination of new faithfuls and old friends have reinstated my zest for Warriors talk and the lack of drama this place has seen in the past year is truly unique from the time I first signed up. It is congratulatory of the members here and their great levels of respect of one another and the maturity overall. Much like our squad in Oakland, this proud establishment is once again on the rise and I can't wait to see where we've arrived at with another year under our belt from now. Thanks to everyone who voted for me and I hope I can sustain your confidence in the months to come. Here's to another great year!

Highest Quality Poster: Guybrush(55%)Runners up: 32 (36%), migya (9%)

When it comes to a username that commands respect and attention every time he grabs the mic, Guybrush is the undeniable voice of reason amongst (what can occasionally be) an asylum of apes here . The general of this ship, Guybrush has seemingly established an unrivaled persona as astute Warriors fan and approachable forum moderator; a balance struck better than any other person to ever command the same position (I believe only TMC ever came close to the level that Guybrush has reached). He is cordial to all, uncommonly intelligent, eloquent, helpful, and just an all-around joy to converse with. The HQP's bar was set by coltraning in the early days and Guybrush certainly has done an excellent job living up to his predecessor. In fact, if there was one person my arrogant ass can outright admit will write a better acceptance speech than I'm capable of constructing, it's gonna be Guy, so I'll go ahead and let him chime in to accept his trophy for 2012 Highest Quality Poster.

Year in and year out, krome is such a reliable, essential, excellent contributor to this forum; I almost fear that we take him for granted. And then the awards section flies in and krome - EVERY year - has taken this award to the bank. Literally, the ONLY winner as Best Thread Starter in this forum's history, and undeniably so, krome is single handedly responsible for keeping the Games Section alive in this forum. In a time where several sections, like the Trades, Sports, and especially News Articles, are little more than decorations at the forum index, krome has managed to bring us together with more continually active threads than any other person in this forum's history. More so than any other winner on this list, I'd like to personally thank krome for all he does to keep this place moving and all he will do in the coming weeks without us even asking him to. The dynasty of the awards thread keeps his streak alive.

An old hand of this forum from before my time, PAWNO is a refreshing voice that everyone looks forward to because he keeps things light, he's extremely quick with wit, and he's never acted with any sort of superiority complex (which is something not a lot of us can lay claim to). The Clown Prince of this forum is a king in terms of laugh-out-loud-level pics, timely responses, out-of-bounds content, and perhaps most humorous of all, PAWNO has never been above making himself the butt end of a joke ("the dreaded itch" comes to mind ). Personally, I can say that no one here has made me laugh at my computer even close to the number of times PAWNO did. Back in the day, we had a forum regular named Captain_Jack (who turned out to be a girl) that PAWNO called fat or something amidst Warrior BS, then she posted a few pics of herself at parties and just chillin and PAWNO's reactions were simply classic... I think you wrote her a minor sonnet about how sparkly and gorgeous her eyes were, bro? Right, wrong, ashy or classy, PAWNO entertains the hell out of you. Well done on another trophy, home slice.

This one was close, but in the end the man who wanted to abolish the award won it. 8th Ave displays a combination of passion that strikes most as unique; he's not above criticizing his squad, but he doesn't devolve into a constant complainer or belly-acher when things go south. 8th is an Oakland local who sounds genuinely proud of his boys when things drop into place. He's smart, he's a basketball guru, and he's a loyal person beyond simply this team. You don't have to agree with every word the man speaks, but you gotta respect him and nobody can deny the fandom. Our resident Aussies, migya and PAWNO, tied for second place, as there's something honorable about following this team from so far away and I just want to give a quick shout-out to those gentlemen; particularly, migya, who came in 2nd in more categories than anybody else this year. Truly a valuable contributor with whom this place would seem a little colder and darker if he weren't here to elevate the game of us all.

By far, the closest award of them all, which speaks volumes to the quality of basketball guru's that frequent this place. Ultimately, I escaped with the win (by a single vote) over Blackfoot, with migya a single vote behind him. I think this award is, again, a combination of many members. Without Blackfoot's statistical savvy and undeniable proof in numbers, I would feel no need to stress the importance of witness-based scouting and there would be no interesting threads debating the use of traditional versus new age barometers of play. I'd also like to take this moment to crow, as both Blackfoot and I had been condemned by previous regimes who couldn't stand our arrogance... but, hey bro, I suppose it ain't cocky if you're right, right BF? Thanks to all the guys who voted for me here; this is truly an honor and a privilege to be recognized amongst so may excellent Warriors fans with such vast intelligence regarding both the game and the team.

Best Signature & Avatar Award: 8th Ave(100%)Runners up: No. Ba. Dee.

I wish I could compose my verbatum beyond a simple acknowledgement that sex sells, but I can't seem to gather my thoughts at the moment... I mean, Jesus, just look at them:

As I stated in his earlier award, Guybrush might not simply be the best moderator of the moment; he very well may be the best this place has ever seen. A frequent contributor with post quality earning him the before mentioned award, Guybrush is a pleasure to deal with in terms of moderating this forum. Spambots get the boot, quality of discussion has never been higher, threads are moved, stickied, and locked when necessary, and Guybrush acts as the ultimate ambassador to new members looking to jump into the fray. With everything this guy does being so top notch, it's extremely impressive that our tribunal of moderators, including JREED, hobbes, and Crackerz, made a vote out of this award. I can't ever remember being so comfortable with a moderating staff here; there is order without fear of the insta-ban-hammer and the staff overall comes off as friends, not internet-police. Great job to everyone on staff and kudos to Guy for nabbing another award!

Rookie-of-the-Year: Ringo(56%)Runner up: Stairway Man (44%)

It has indeed been years since we've had such an interactive crop of rookies like Ringo and Stairway Man. Ultimately, with the arrival of Andrew Bogut came Ringo; another wonderful member hailing from Australia who knows his ball back-and-forth. Ringo has integrated into this place like a good weave and keeps the Game Threads section afloat with stirring conversation and spot-on analysis. Another close award and I suspect if these two keep up their level of convo in the coming year, we'll have another couple of candidates for MVP before long!

Best Board Moment of the Year: The 2012 NBA Draft(40%)

Already, we have a ton of evidence as to why the 2012 NBA Draft was such a joyous occasion; super-stud, Harrison Barnes, is sitting on a Slam of the Year candidate, Festus Ezeli has provided us with a young starting center, Draymond Green has been every bit the glue-guy he was billed to be... and pissing off a bunch of invading, fairy Jazz fans doesn't hurt either.

And, as with the above moment, I think we can safely say that every idiot screaming and hissing on Chris Mullin night (and I was in the crowd, so I know how LOUD it sounded, compared to the muted version they played on TV) was absolutely, 100%, certifiably WRONG. Nice try, idiots. Hopefully, with the record being what it is, we'll have some REAL fans packing the house from now on.

Mate, thanks for doing this thing, you did a great job. Not like I didn't expect it to be good, but with this amount of description and time put into it...just amazing work. I hope you are now more assured that the MVP title went into the right hands.

And thanks for all of those nice words...I've let my wife read it, and I'm not sure if she would have wrote it as good as you did, lol.

Really impressive job writing this up and finishing it all. I appreciate the genuineness that went into all of the writing. And this thread also confirms to me you are the god damned life blood of this forum.

Wow, what an honour! Well done to all the other winners, nominees and forum members who have made a contribution to this great site. Thanks 32 for organising this years awards. You’ve gone to a great deal of effort and have done a fantastic job.

Ditto, but JREED isn't getting comped for making them so I'm fine getting them whenever he's ready.

lol, sorry guys, I've been crushed at work and the holidays didn't do me any favors. I haven't forgot, it's just a matter of me sitting down in front of my home PC for and hour or so and busting them out. I've also lost a lot of time to my new addiction - Planetside 2... It's been a long time since I've fallen into a game this hard - to the point where I'm unable to sit in front of my home PC without instinctively firing it up, lol. I've posted more about it here: http://goldenstwarriors.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10316

I'll try to get those to you guys this week, but since I'm such a flake, I can't make any promises.